Effect of gravity on axial development of bubbly flow at low liquid Reynolds number

In view of the great importance of two geometrical parameters such as void fraction and interfacial area concentration to the accurate two-phase flow analysis at microgravity conditions, axial developments of flow parameters such as void fraction, interfacial area concentration, bubble Sauter mean diameter, and bubble number density were measured by image-processing in bubbly flow at microgravity and low liquid Reynolds number conditions where the gravity effect on the flow parameters were pronounced. Negligible bubble breakup was observed because of weak turbulence under tested flow conditions. The velocity profile entrainment effect under microgravity was likely to be comparable to the wake entrainment effect under normal gravity in the tested flow conditions.

Characteristics of developing vertical bubbly flow under normal and microgravity conditions

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, a precise database of the axial development of void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter in an adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flow in a 9 mm-diameter pipe was constructed for normal and microgravity conditions using stereo image-processing. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5, 20, 40 and 60) and with various flows: superficial gas velocity of 0.00840–0.0298 m/s, and superficial liquid velocity of 0.138–0.914 m/s. The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail based on the obtained database and visual observation.

The axial development of the void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe were measured using stereo image processing in normal and microgravity conditions. The effect of gravity and flow conditions on the radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of the two-phase flow parameter is discussed in detail based on the obtained data. By taking into account normalized parameters based on void peak fraction and void peak intensity in the pipe cross-section, the phase distribution patterns were classified into three types: a wall peak, a core peak and an intermediate peak. Phase distribution pattern maps are presented for vertical upward bubbly flows in normal and microgravity conditions.

In relation to the development of the interfacial area transport equation, a precise database of the axial development of void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter in an adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flow in a 5 mm-diameter mini pipe was constructed for normal and microgravity conditions using stereo image-processing. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5.5, 34, 72 and 110) and with various flows: superficial gas velocity of 0.00434–0.0420 m/s, and superficial liquid velocity of 0.239–0.949 m/s. The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail based on the obtained database and visual observation.

The axial development of the void fraction, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean bubble diameter profiles of adiabatic air-water bubbly flows in 5.0 and 3.0 mm-diameter pipes were measured using a stereo image processing method under two gravity conditions, vertical upward (normal gravity) and microgravity. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations. The axial distances from the pipe inlet (z) normalized by the pipe diameter (D) were z/D = 5.5, 34, 72 and 110 for 5.0 mm-diameter pipe and z/D = 15, 62, 120 and 188 for 3.0 mm-diameter pipe. Data were collected for superficial gas and liquid velocities respectively in the ranges of 0.00434–0.0500 m/s and 0.205–0.754 m/s. The effect of gravity on the radial distribution of bubbles and the axial development of two-phase flow parameters is discussed in detail, based on the obtained database. The phase distributions in pipe cross-sections were classified into 3 basic patterns: core peak, intermediate peak and wall peak distributions, based on two normalized parameters: a normalized void peak position and a normalized void peak intensity. Phase distribution pattern maps under normal and microgravity conditions were generated for bubbly flows in 5.0 and 3.0 mm-diameter pipes. The data obtained in the current experiment are expected to contribute to the benchmarking of CFD simulation of void fraction and interfacial area concentration distribution patterns in forced convective pipe flow under microgravity conditions.

Numerical modelling of bubbly flows with and without heat and mass transfer

Axial developments of one-dimensional void fraction, bubble number density, interfacial area concentration, and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9-mm-diameter pipe were measured under a microgravity environment using an image-processing method. The interfacial area transport mechanism was determined based on visual observation. Marked bubble coalescence occurred when fast-moving bubbles near the channel center overtook and swept up slower-moving bubbles in the vicinity of the channel wall (velocity profile entrainment). Negligible bubble breakup was observed because of weak turbulence under tested flow conditions. Axial changes of measured interfacial area concentrations were compared with the interfacial area transport equation considering the bubble expansion and wake entrainment as observed under a normal gravity environment. The velocity profile entrainment effect under microgravity was likely to be comparable to the wake entrainment effect under normal gravity in the tested flow conditions. This apparently led to insignificant differences between measured interfacial area concentrations and those predicted by the interfacial area transport equation with the wake entrainment model under normal gravity. Possible bubble coalescence mechanisms would differ, however, between normal gravity and microgravity conditions.

An experimental and numerical investigation on the hot surface ignition of premixed gases under microgravity conditions

Three-phase liquid-gas-solid flows under microgravity condition are studied. An Eulerian-Lagrangian computational model was developed and used in the simulations. In this approach, the liquid flow was modeled by a volume-averaged system of governing equations, whereas motions of particles and bubbles were evaluated using the Lagrangian trajectory analysis procedure. It was assumed that the bubbles remained spherical, and their shape variations were neglected. The bubble-liquid, particle-liquid and bubbl-particle two-way interactions were accounted for in the analysis. The discrete phase equations used included drag, lift, buoyancy, and virtual mass forces. Particle-particle interactions and bubble-bubble interactions were accounted for by the hard sphere model. Bubble coalescence was also included in the model. The transient flow characteristics of the three-phase flow were studied; and the effects of gravity, inlet bubble size and g-jitter acceleration on variation of flow characteristics were discussed. The low gravity simulations showed that most bubbles are aggregated in the inlet region. Also, under microgravity condition, bubble transient time is much longer than that in normal gravity. As a result, the Sauter mean bubble diameter, which is proportional to the transient time of the bubble, becomes rather large, reaching to more than 9 mm. The bubble plume in microgravity exhibits a plug type flow behavior. After the bubble plume reaches the free surface, particle volume fraction increases along the height of the column. The particles are mainly located outside the bubble plume, with very few particles being retained in the plume. In contrast to the normal gravity condition, the three phases in the column are poorly mixed under microgravity conditions. The velocities of the three phases were also found to be of the same order. Bubble size significantly affects the characteristics of the three-phase flows under microgravity conditions. For the same inlet bubble number density, the flow with larger bubbles evolves faster. The simulation results showed that the effect of g-jitter acceleration on the gas-liquid-particle three phase flows is small.

This study aims at the measurements of the axial developments of flow parameters such as void fraction profile, interfacial area concentration and Sauter mean diameter of adiabatic nitrogen-water bubbly flows in a 9 mm-diameter pipe by using a stereo image-processing method at normal- and micro-gravity conditions. The flow measurements were performed at four axial locations (axial distance from the inlet normalized by the pipe diameter, z/D = 5, 20, 40 and 60) at various flow conditions of superficial gas velocity (0.00840–0.0298 m/s) and superficial liquid velocity (0.138–0.914 m/s). The effect of gravity on radial distribution of bubbles and the axial developments of two-phase flow parameter was discussed in detail based on the obtained data and the visual observation.

Alkali cyanides in the iron blast-furnace

Characterization of horizontal air–water two-phase flow in a round pipe part II: Measurement of local two-phase parameters in bubbly flow

On the numerical study of isothermal vertical bubbly flow using two population balance approaches

Accurate prediction of the interfacial area concentration is essential to successful development of the interfacial transfer terms in the two-fluid model. Mechanistic modeling of the interfacial area concentration entirely relies on accurate local flow measurements over extensive flow conditions and channel geometries. From this point of view, accurate measurements of flow parameters such as void fraction, interfacial area concentration, gas velocity, bubble Sauter mean diameter, and bubble number density were performed by the image processing method at five axial locations in vertical upward bubbly flows using 1.02 and 0.55 mm-diameter pipes. The frictional pressure loss was also measured by a differential pressure cell. In the experiment, the superficial liquid velocity and the void fraction ranged from 0.475 m/s to 4.89 m/s and from 0.980% to 28.6%, respectively. The obtained data give near complete information on the time-averaged local hydrodynamic parameters of two-phase flow. These data can be used for the development of reliable constitutive relations which reflect the true transfer mechanisms in two-phase flow. As the first step to understand the flow characteristics in mini-channels, the applicability of the existing drift-flux model, interfacial area correlation, and frictional pressure correlation was examined by the data obtained in the mini-channels.